Welcome to ANT Class!

We hope you had a good half-term break. 

It is hard to believe that we are now in the final half-term of the children's Reception year. This term will be another busy one. While still continuing with our usual curriculum, we will also prepare the children for their transition to Year 1. They will have opportunities to visit the Year 1 teaching spaces and meet the teams who work within Year 1.

We look forward to welcoming you into school for sports day and open afternoon. We will also be heading to All Saints Church as our act of service, helping our local community with weeding and tidying. More details will follow in the school newsletter, and we would appreciate the help from adult helpers to ensure this trip is able to go ahead.

Please keep an eye on labels in your child's jumpers. Sticky labels do sometimes come off in the wash, so it is worth a regular check. We will continue to remind the children to take responsibility for their jumpers, especially when they remove them in warmer weather. Being well-named is essential when jumpers get left in all sorts of strange places!

Our topic this half-term will be 'Out of Africa' and we will be using the vast and varied continent of Africa as the basis for our learning across the curriculum. Below is an outline of the learning the children will complete at school.

English

We will use 'We're Going on a Lion Hunt' to inspire our writing this half-term. We will explore the different settings and innovate the story with an African setting of our own. We will also use our growing knowledge about Africa and African animals to write our own non-fiction work.

Phonics

In phonics this term, we will be introducing the children to phase 5 phonics. This is the point where the children start to explore the different letters (graphemes) that make the sounds (phonemes) that they have already been taught.  There will be examples of these every week in the home learning on Google Classroom.

To help children learn the sounds and to blend the sounds with ease, it is essential that whenever we are pronouncing the sounds as pure sounds. This video from the authors of Essential Letters and Sounds will demonstrate the correct pronunciation of the graphemes outlined above and the accompanying rhyme.

We will continue to practise the yellow level keywords which link directly to the yellow-banded reading books. Children need to practise these words regularly to develop their instant recall, which will help them when reading longer texts.

 Yellow Level Keywords

went	said	come	out
it’s	have	were	what
from	like	there
children	so	little
just	do	one
help	some	when

Reading

The children will continue to read and discuss books in small groups as part of guided reading as well as participate in sessions building their knowledge of keywords outlined above. Reading for enjoyment and sharing stories is a key part of our reading curriculum too. The children need to continue to bring their yellow reading record to school on a daily basis. We will write in the book when your child has read in school and the focus for the reading activities. You will then be able to use this focus for your home reading too. As well as using the Reading Record book to write down any reading your child does at home, we would like you to write down some of the reading that is done for pleasure. This would include the title of the book and what was enjoyed most about the book.

Children will continue to be given reading books that contain phonics sounds that they are confident with. These will consolidate the phonics for phase2, 3 and 4. They may work on a 'set' of sounds for more than one week to ensure they embed the knowledge before moving on. Reading books will be handed out on a Thursday, we ask for these to be returned on a Thursday to give us the opportunity to organise them for distribution by that afternoon.

The children will also bring home a 'read with me' book from our central reading book supply. It is clearly labelled on the front. This book may contain sounds or words that they have not yet been taught in phonics lessons, so please be aware that they may need your help throughout. This book will change every Tuesday but if you do require any additional book changes please tell a member of staff on the gate on the morning. 

Our library day is on a Friday, so the children will need to bring in their library bag and book each week on Friday.

Maths

This term we will continue to look at numbers to 20 and beyond. We will teach the children about doubling, halving and sharing. Children will explore these concepts in many practical ways. They will explore the patterns of odd and even numbers and begin to understand why a number is odd or even. The children will look at applying their maths knowledge through joining in with and creating their own mathematical stories.

Topic

In our topic sessions we will be completing creative activities based on our overarching topic, Out of Africa. In developing our understanding of the world, children will learn about the different continents in the world and where to find Africa on a world map. They will learn about the many varied countries in Africa, about different animal habitats in Africa and many new facts about the animals. In art, they will learn how to build pictures by looking carefully at different techniques to build their own African sunset. In PSHE, children will be encouraged to think about 'moving on' and the changes that take place as we grow older and move classes. They will have the opportunity to visit the Year 1 teaching areas and the staff that work within them. They will also consider how to look after their wellbeing through exercise, meditation, a balanced diet and care for themselves. In ICT, we will begin mouse familiarisation and experiment with paint projects. In Mind Up, children will consider their actions within their family, school and wider community. They will learn how kindness impacts on others, so hopefully you will see them performing their own acts of kindness at home!  They will think about how they can express gratitude and even take their own mindful action in the local community.

Religious Education

This half-term in RE we will be completing a unit called 'How can we care for our wonderful world?'  We will be considering how Christians believe God made our wonderful world, and so they should look after it. We will explore our personal responsibilities in looking after our world. We will work together to carry out an act of service by weeding and tidying the churchyard at All Saints Marlow. We will think about how the small things we can do will together have a big impact.

PE   

Our PE day continues to be a Monday, so the children will need to come to school in their PE kit on this day.  In PE lessons we will be using Real PE and Jasmine to develop the children's ball skills.

Through the unit 'Sammy Squirrel and his rolling nuts' the children will work on rolling and collecting balls. Through the unit 'Caspar the very clever cat' we will work on movement, creating front and back support positions.

Enrichment

Very excitingly, we are off to the Zoo this half-term. This will be an opportunity to reinforce the children's learning about African animals. We will also be visiting All Saints Church to complete our act of service.

Next Year

As we approach the end of the academic year, it’s hard to believe that we have just half a term remaining in Reception. This is a particularly important time, as we begin to focus more closely on supporting the children with their transition into Year 1.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind all parents and carers that the current Ant and Bee classes will be mixed as part of this transition. A wide range of factors are carefully considered to ensure we create two well-balanced classes that best support the needs of all children.

Thank you for your continued support during this exciting stage in the children’s learning journey.

Home Learning

Home Learning will be accessible through Google Classroom and will be updated weekly on Fridays.

If you have any questions along the way, please do not hesitate to contact us via the office email.

Useful Links

​Home Learning activities: Google classroom on a browser or download the app from your app store

 

 

 BBC phase 2 phonics - https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf2yf4j

 BBC phase 3 phonics -https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvq9bdm

 

Your child's log in details are listed in the front cover of their yellow reading record.

Purple Mash is used in school for IT across the curriculum in all year groups as well as  Computing      lessons in Key Stage 1

 

Free access to webinars and advice for parents ​https://nationalcollege.com/enrol/marlow-c-of-e-infant-school